


Growing Pains

by MagicRobot



Series: The Adventures of Replay [8]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, Family, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Original Character(s), Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-26 10:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 4,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicRobot/pseuds/MagicRobot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of baby fic too short to be on their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bumper

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by prompts from tumblr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumper is being cranky, so Cyclonus sings him a lullaby.

Bumper had been remarkably fussy all day. For a sparkling that was normally quiet and rather well-behaved, it was quite the feat. By the end of the cycle, both of his creators had been at their wits end. 

As such, by the time Bumper’s recharge time came about, the sparkling was not being cooperative in the least. Tailgate, who had more or less given up by that point, slinked off to their chambers sometime after Bumper decided to throw his evening energon all over the floor. This left Cyclonus to carry the squirming sparkling off to his berth-crib.

"Hush, you," gruffed Cyclonus when Bumper made a small, whining cry. Bumper ignored his sire, continuing to move about, looking for a way to escape. Cyclonus growled, hiking Bumper further up his side, nearly stomping into the nursery.

He placed Bumper into the berth-crib, the sparkling’s whining quickly turning into out-right wailing as he left Cyclonus’ arm. Venting a gust of air in frustration, he raked his processor for a way to calm his son. He could just let him tire himself out, but he had no patience for such a thing, and even in the darkest parts of Cyclonus’ processor, that seemed needlessly cruel. But he was running out of options, and this was getting quite ridiculous.

Venting once more, Cyclonus decided on an old method. He had never sang a lullaby, in fact he only knew one, but he supposed that it wouldn’t hurt to try.

He cleared his vocalizer. A clear, melodious tune came forth, much softer than his usual patriotic vocalizations. It was difficult for him to be heard over the cries of Bumper, but he continued, as loud as he could manage without becoming harsh.

Eventually, Bumper started to calm, listening to the song. He hiccuped and yawned, the lightly lilting words lulling him into a state of contentment. His engine purred quietly, coughing as his optics began to power down. Soon after, his recharge protocols began to activate and blissful silence settled around the room.

Cyclonus paused in his singing, watching Bumper recharge for a moment. He enjoyed the silence in the meantime, smiling softly. Some time later, he creeped out of the nursery to join his mate in their quarters. 


	2. Majoris Ambus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rung babysits Majoris, but something feels a little off.

Rung had found himself in the position of the unofficial sparkling sitter of the Lost Light. He didn’t mind it, in fact he got a lot of enjoyment out of his new role. It was no small secret that Rung was positively enamoured with the little ones, and took on the roll with gusto. Sometimes Fortress Maximus stopped by to help, but Max had been curiously absent as of late.

Today found little Majoris Ambus in his care. An odd sparkling to say the least, with his odd name and equally as odd color scheme. Rung had enquired to Rodimus why this was, but the captain had simply shrugged and brushed him off. The whole encounter was strange, in fact a lot of things surrounded around Majoris were strange.

Like, whenever he was in his presence, Rung felt like someone was watching him. There were no cameras in his office, per his request, so it wasn’t that. But, there was a clear, omnipotent force at work here and it made Rung uneasy.

Majoris, however, continued to play with his blocks on the floor, unaware of what was happening.


	3. Sniper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sniper wakes up from a nightmare and goes to his Creators' room for comfort.

Sniffling, Sniper shuffled into his Creators' room, his toy gun held close to his chassis for comfort. He had just awoken from a terrible night-terror and was too scared to go back to sleep on his own. Images of gruesome monsters continued to play in the back of his processor and he whimpered, hurrying along to the berth. He hoped that his creators would be able to protect him.

A red servo peeked outward from the edge of the berth. Sniper seemed to gravitate toward it, his stride shaky and uneven in fear. He recognized it as his Sire’s and he tugged at it insistently. There was a rustle of movement from the top and Sniper looked up eagerly, the servo slipping from his digits. But his Sire simply turned to his other side, his servo disappearing onto the berth, turning his back toward the sparkling.

Sniper whined, pawing at the berth. There wasn’t enough room for him to slip onto the surface and he huffed, cuddling his gun closer to his chest. He stood for a moment, whining to himself.

Eventually, the shadows licking at the corner of his vision began to frighten him. They shifted into horrific beasts that tried to grab at him. He suppressed the urge to scream.

Shivering, he scampered to the other side of the berth, where his Carrier laid. He peeked over the berth, noticing a sizable patch where he could cuddle up to his creator. Sniper grabbed at the edge, pulling himself on top of it. His gun clattered next to him, but he quickly picked it back up, nudging into his Carrier’s side. He burrowed into his chassis, his Carrier barely stirring in his recharge.

Sniper closed his optics, listening to the whirring of his Creator’s systems. The monster in his head was soon forgotten and he managed to slip into a peaceful and dreamless recharge.


	4. Bumper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bumper and Tailgate take a nap together.

Bumper’s systems purred quietly, the sparkling snuggling up to his Carrier’s chassis. Tailgate cradled him in his servos, rubbing his thumbs along Bumper’s back in soothing circles. In response, Bumper gave a quiet yawn, his optics shuddering as he struggled not to fall into recharge.

Chuckling, Tailgate stretched where he laid, continuing to pet Bumper. He rubbed at his helm, encouraging him to power down. The sparkling continued to fight his need to shut down, but eventually his helm came to rest comfortably on his Carrier’s chassis. He watched as Bumper’s visor light began to flicker off, the sparkling giving one last yawn before snuggling ever closer to his Creator and drifting off into recharge.

Tailgate gave one last pat to his helm before engaging his own recharge protocols and drifting off to recharge as well.


	5. Sniper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brainstorm's a good Creator, even if he doesn't seem to have a mind for safety.

Sniper was an easily bored sparkling with limited supervision, and so the little bot was often found wandering the corridors of the Lost Light by himself. His Creators were usually too busy to properly watch him, but they trusted his intelligence enough to know how to avoid danger. Fortunately for them, his impromptu relative Replay was always willing to keep an optic out for him. However, the older mechling could only watch him for so long before getting caught up in his own activities and, more often than not, Sniper was left to his own devices.

During these times, he opted to make his own entertainment. There weren’t many others his age on the ship (beside Cation and Anion, but they were so strange that Sniper tried to avoid them as much as possible), but he made due by himself. He would clutch his toy gun - a gift from his Carrier who told him to, “live it, breathe it, love it,” whatever that’s supposed to mean - and snuck around the ship, jumping out at unexpected moments to point the gun up at whoever he had caught. Most would just give him a chuckle and a pat, but he lived for the times that he genuinely startled someone. Bots made funny noises when scared.

It wasn’t long before he became bored, though, the novelty wore off rather quickly. Occasionally, this was around the time that his Sire would stumble upon him, scooping him up to take him to do some target practice or what not. They were rare and few between, but Sniper loved spending time with his Sire.

His Carrier had always told him to come to the labs whenever he found himself with nothing to do, and so Sniper found himself meandering along the corridors toward the middle of the afternoon. He had become quite adept at the navigating around the ship over the years and had little trouble finding his destination, regardless of where he started.

His little gun was held casually in one hand as he walked inside, making a beeline for his Carrier’s workshop. Out of the corner of his optics, he spotted Perceptor fiddling with something. The scientist paid him no mind, of which Sniper was thankful for. Usually when he came, he gave Sniper the most disapproving looks, as if judging him, and it never ceased to make him uncomfortable.

He trotted along, not bothering to knock as he entered the workshop. He spotted his Carrier at his usual spot; at his desk with piles of scrap metal littered around and an odd sort of gun laid before him. His Carrier was hunched over the object, clearly engaged in whatever he was doing. As he got closer, Sniper could make out more and more details of the weapon, and his optics rounded in interest. It was big, shiny, and had lots of pretty diodes on the side.

Transfixed, Sniper pawed at his Carrier’s thigh, whining up at him.

Brainstorm jumped where he sat, a look of irritation crossing his features before they softened into a warm greeting. “Well hello, little one. Come to see your Creator’s brilliance once more?”

He bent down, picking his creation from off the floor and settling him in his lap. He held him against his chest, nuzzling at his helm slightly. Sniper was fixated on the object in front of him, his toy clutched between his two servos.

"You know what this is, Sniper? This is my newest prototype. It’s a particle obliterator, able to destroy things on the sub-atomic level," rambled on Brainstorm, keeping the gun far out of reach of the grabbing servos of his sparkling. Sniper whined loudly.

"Now, you know I would usually let you test these things out, but this is still too delicate, even for me to handle."

Huffing, Sniper settled against his Carrier’s chest. “I wanted to make stuff go, ‘boom.’”

Brainstorm chuckled. “And maybe you will, once I get the kinks out of this one, you’ll be the first one to test it out. How’s that sound?”

Sniper pouted, but nodded, allowing his Creator to finish with his invention.


	6. Sniper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atomizer teaches his son the ins and outs of proper archery techniques.

"Watch and learn, mechling," said Atomizer, aiming his bow at its designated target. Sniper watched in wide-opticked fascination, his full focus on his Sire. He was completely still and silent, sat on the floor not too far from his Sire’s pedes.

He loved going to target practice and today his Sire was teaching him how to use a new weapon: a compound bow. This was particularly exciting for Sniper, as his Sire had boasted about how much more difficult it was to master this one over a simple crossbow. Sniper was eager to learn and watched his Sire with rapt attention.

Of course, Atomizer was always up for showing off his skills and made quite a production out of the ins-and-outs of proper bow etiquette. “Always make sure you stand with your pedes shoulder width apart,” he said, moving his body to the correct position with a flourish. “And always stand to the side, with your front pede pointed toward the target.”

Sniper nodded enthusiastically. While the young sparkling was usually full of troublesome energy, he was surprisingly mellow and quiet whenever high velocity weapons were involved.

Atomizer reached for an arrow at his side. “Pay attention, now, this part is important. Draw the bow directly over your chassis and make sure your backstrut is completely straight.” His visor brightened in a smirk as he glanced over at his sparkling. “Now watch closely.”

Sniper leaned forward slightly in his seat, making sure to catch every detail. His Sire pulled the string across his chassis, pausing for a moment to aim at his target. “Make sure you have the target in your sight,” he heard him say, “and fire.”

The arrow made a muffled, “thwomp,” when it pierced the bulls-eye. Sniper’s visor lit up in delight and he giggled. Atomizer nodded to himself in self-satisfaction before sauntering over to his sparkling, handing him to bow.

"Now, you try."


	7. Sniper, Anion, and Cation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sniper has always tried to avoid the twins, Anion and Cation, but loneliness catches up to him one day.

 

Ever since Sniper had been a youngling, he had made it his personal mission to avoid Cation and Anion as much as possible. They were harmless enough, that much he could admit, but they were just so strange that it was hard to be around them for more than a few minutes. The worst part was, though, was that they always put forth the effort to be as friendly as possible to him. It was odd, and Sniper didn’t quite understand it.

 

However, the older he got, the more lonely he became. There was only so much entertainment he could find by himself, and Replay and the others soon moved on with their lives. He found himself seeking out the company of the twins more and more often.

 

At first, he had chalked it up to a mere ‘scientific curiosity,’ as his Carrier would put it. He didn’t have anything better to do, and perhaps observing and spending time with them would make them more tolerable.

 

Anion was a bit too overeager the first time he had sat with them, throwing his arms around Sniper in his excitement. Cation had been equally as elated, but had reserved himself to a broad smile and an offering of energon cookies that they had been hoarding. It occurred to Sniper then that they were perhaps just as lonely as he was. 

 

He endured their company that first cycles, even enjoyed it a little bit. They were still weird, but Sniper was starting to think it as more of a quirk than any actually concerning. In the cycles after the incident, Sniper found himself seeking out their company more and more. He liked them, although he would never admit it aloud.

 

And he would certainly would never admit to the fact that he found them both to be very pretty and even looked forward to their interactions more than what was necessary. 


	8. Treads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fortress Maximus says goodbye to Treads on Luna-1.

It was for the best, Fortress Maximus had to keep telling himself. It was best for his mental health, really, and would do him some good. Being cooped up on a ship all the time would only do him more harm than good in the long term. Besides, this was something that he was made to do; to overseer, to keep order. It would be a refreshing reminder of his old life before Garrus-9 and something he was in need of, especially after the Overlord Incident.

But, no matter his reasonings and the number of times he justified his decision, nothing was more spark-breaking than Treads’ reaction to the news. He was absolutely devastated.

On the desolate plains of Luna-1, Treads clung to Max, crying as loud as physically possible. He vocalizer hiccuped pleas for his Sire every few moments. Fortress Maximus was helpless to simply cling to Treads as tightly as his sparkling clung to him and struggle not to completely break.

The more he listened, the more he began to second guess himself. Perhaps it would be best if he stayed. He had a family to think about. There were plenty who could take his place. He tried not to think about it too hard, and instead tried his best to shush Treads, rubbing his back plating affectionately.

Across from him, Blaster bit his lip. “C’mon Treads, it’s time for your Sire to leave.” Blaster careful pried Treads from his perch. The sparkling protested loudly, flailing in his Carrier’s arms. Max grimaced, reluctant to let go himself.

"You should go before this gets any worse," said Blaster, a small smile on his face. Treads continued to cry, but static was beginning to fade into his vocalizer, minimizing the volume of his cries. Max nodded, his throat tight.

Max vented out a hot gush of air. “I’m gonna miss you two.” He placed a kiss on each of their cheeks, lingering more on the the still silently sobbing Treads. He rubbed his helm for a bit, the watery gaze of his sparkling pulling at his spark.

"He’ll be fine, Max. Just go." Blaster cuddled Treads close. He gave a quick quirk of the lips, whispering a soft, "I love you."

Nodding, Max shot back his own, “I love you,” and stepped back, a sad smile on his face. Treads was still whining for him, but he knew what he had to do. He once more said his final goodbyes and turned around to meet up with Red Alert a ways away.

This would be good for him, he knew it. Even though it hurt like the Pit to do so.


	9. Anion and Cation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ratchet tries to reprimand the twins and Drift ends up coddling them

Twin helms peaked from behind Drift’s legs as Ratchet approached, a broken medical tool held in his servo and a scowl on his face. He stomped in front of Drift, glaring at the little ones, while the swordsmech blinked in surprise. The twins huddled behind their Carrier, squeaking in surprise.

"You know better than to be in the medbay," scolded Ratchet, brandishing the broken tool for emphasis. In response, the twins simply pushed closer to their Carrier, pressing their faces against the back of his legs. There came a whimper and Drift’s face melted in sympathy.

"They’re just kids, Ratch, they don’t know any better." Drift bent down to scoop up the simpering sparklings, cooing at them softly.

"They have to learn to listen, Drift!" sputtered Ratchet.

Anion gave a soft cry, burying into Drift’s shoulder. Cation, on the other hand, uttered a distressed gurgling noise. Drift glared at Ratchet.

"See, you’re scaring them."

Ratchet growled. “I needed this and they had no business in the medbay! They’re never going to learn if you keep coddling them.”

It was around that time that Anion started to sob, his brother soon following his example. Drift glared harshly at Ratchet, turning on his heel down the corridor. “Come on little ones, your Sire needs some time to cool down.”


	10. Bumper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sequel to "Early Beginnings"

The welds were holding nicely on Tailgate. Three weeks later and he was finally able to sit up properly in bed. The first time, he winced slightly, and held himself up through sheer determination and sense of will. After that, Cyclonus was there to help him and things became a little easier.

There wasn’t much to do, stuck in medbay as he was. Sometimes one of the medics wandered through to take vitals or to pass around rations. The pain inhibitors made it difficult for Tailgate to ingest much, but he drank as much as he could handle. That placated Ratchet for a while until the next feeding time. Other than that, he was left alone for much of the time. 

With nothing much to do, it forced him to think. He’d stare at the little plastic cube beside him and think. Cyclonus, who rarely left his side ever since the birth, could usually be found doing much of the same. His face was always unreadable, but Tailgate assumed he was thinking much of the same as him.

Was Bumper going to survive? First Aid told them that his vitals were growing stronger every day, but there was still that cloud of doubt hovering above the newborn. Tailgate had to keep himself from crying on some nights; he was so worried. A part of him blamed himself for the situation, although he would never voice it aloud.

Cyclonus, meanwhile, stood as a  paragon of calm and cool attitude. Tailgate envied him. 

Then one day, First Aid came around to check the vitals in his usual routine. Cyclonus was already there. He had become such a constant presence in the medbay that First Aid barely battered an optic at the early morning visitor.

He walked over to the incubator, smiling softly at the tiny sparkling. From Tailgate’s position, he noted that Bumper seemed a lot more active today than any other cycle. He watched the little sparkling squirm and twitter up at First Aid. Next to him, Cyclonus’ mouth twitched in a barely noticeable smile.

First Aid opened the top, a hitch in his usual bedside manner. He gently pried the little one from his housing and held him to his chest, shuffling over to the two Creators.

"Would you like to see your sparkling now?"


	11. Majoris Ambus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus decides to play a game of catch with his son.

Catch was a generic game, popular the universe-over for its simple, easy game play. It had been around for centuries for this same reason. Magnus liked it for it’s clear, precise rules. Throw the ball and catch. While Magnus did enjoy long and detailed rule breakdowns, he could appreciate the more quick and plain language. Hence, he deemed it a perfect game for him and Majoris to bond over.

A flat, barren plain made the perfect play area. Magnus tossed a ball in one servo, looking at his creation at the other side of the field. The ball was much too small for Magnus’ servos, but it was the perfect size for Majoris. He watched Majoris bounced from pede to pede, simultaneously patiently waiting for his Sire to start and eager to get the game going.

Cautiously, Magnus throw the ball underhanded. It gently soared through the air, landing with a ‘thunk’ in front of Majoris. The mechlet blinked, seemingly taken off guard by the object.

"The rules are you’re supposed to catch it, Majoris," said Magnus. Majoris’ optics cycled as if coming out of a trance. He stooped, picking it up and tossing it back at Magnus.

A tiny, barely there smile blossomed onto Magnus’ face as he caught the return. “Very good.”

 

 

 


	12. Miscellaneous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a couple of prompt fills from tumblr

_All the headmasters on the ship playing with Replay like good uncles should_

"Wow, Brainstorm, I’m impressed. Two minutes in and the thing hasn’t even exploded yet," quipped Highbrow. At his pedes sat Replay, shrieking merrily at the glowing light-show emitting from a sphere on the floor. He grabbed at each beam of light, bouncing where he sat when they phased through his digits.

"I’m not even sure if this is safe for Replay to play with. How many guns does it have?" asked Chromedome from Highbrow’s other side.

Brainstorm huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “While my genius does lay with weapons, that doesn’t mean that I can’t make something child friendly every once in a while.”

"I didn’t even know he knew what ‘child friendly’ meant," snickered Chromedome to Highbrow. Highbrow chuckled, nudging Replay with his pede when his playing began to get a little too rambunctious. 

Stomping his foot in petulance annoyance, Brainstorm replied, “Of course I do, I just choose not to do it. If you don’t want my present, then fine. I was just trying to be nice.” Brainstorm made a move to stoop to pick the object off, but Chromedome waved him off.

"I’ll give it a chance. But if it explodes in his face, I’m coming after you."

> _Anion and Cation views of the people on the Lost light please_

The medbay wasn’t the safest place for the twins to be, but it was the most convenient. At least, in this way, Ratchet could keep an optic on them, while Drift was otherwise occupied. Luckily for all three of them, the medbay was relatively slow lately and Ratchet spent much of the day organizing his tool and cleaning.

Anion and Cation obediently sat on the assigned medberth, gazing around curiously. They watched their Sire clean for a while, slowly growing bored when it became repetitive. Cation liked the sparkly tools, though, lingering on them a bit longer than necessary.

Around mid-cycle, other bots began to show up, mostly the other medics. First Aid and Ambulon ambled in, First Aid making an almost solid bee-line for the chirping sparklings. It was welcomed stimulation for the twins, who were starting to grow antsy in their places. They liked First Aid anyway; he was kind and cooed at them, and even slipped them treats when no one was looking.

Ambulon milled about, a check-board in hand. He made one perimeter around the medbay, paying no mind the sparklings. He never did, which deeply disappointed Cation and Anion. Ambulon was not one for foolishness when there was work to be done, as evidenced by his hard frown whenever he happened to catch a glimpse of them.

The twins didn’t like him much; he was scary

> _Maybe something new with Replay and Bumper?_

"C’mon, Bumper, hurry, or we’re going to miss it." Replay dragged Bumper along the corridors, the purple youngling blearily looking around him. It was late - way past their recharge time. Bumper was tired, but he was willing to indulge Replay.

"Miss what?"

Replay paused in front of a latch, pulling at the level fruitlessly. He huffed in annoyance, pushing his servos to unlatch it. Bumper shook his head, aiding him, and soon the latch was open, the outer observatory open to their optics.

Replay peeked his helm through the hole as far as he could, studying the stars above them. He nodded to himself, grasping the nearby ladder to pull himself up. “We still have some time, but come on.”

They both shuffled up the ladder, the grand scope of the observatory finally coming into view. As one who had never been up here before, Bumper took a solid minute to look around at the wonder around him. He dragged out of his reverie by Replay, excitedly pointing at some space toward the left of he helm.

"Look, look, see." Sure enough, Bumper turned his helm and saw color puffs of clouds floating off in space. They were far enough away that the massive cloud was just in comfortable optic view.

It was beautiful. “What is it?”

Replay cocked his head to the side, studying the particles. “It’s called a neb-u-ler. That’s what Brainstorm told me it is. Pretty cool, huh?”

Bumper nodded.


	13. Replay (AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rewind's reluctant to let go of his sparkling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a running gag on my blog that when Rewind was pregnant, he made himself a pillow nest because he was a the most miserable pregnant person on the Lost Light. This is an AU in which Rewind's alive and decides to hoard his newborn sparkling in his pillow fort.

Much to the chagrin of Chromedome, once Replay was born, Rewind’s odd little pile of comforts only seemed to get bigger. Now, rather than simply eclipsing Rewind’s side of the berth, it had expanded to the entire surface, piles of pillows teetering off the edges. Fortunately, though, Rewind was significantly less possessive over the area, at least allowing Chromedome to lay on the berth when it came time for recharge.

If were possible, Chromedome saw even less of Rewind, who had taken to hiding out in the nest with their sparkling. He had once asked Ratchet about the strange behavior, who had simply shrugged in reply and added, “all Carriers react differently.”

So found Chromedome awkwardly hovering over the pile. Sparkling giggles could be heard from the inside. He shifted from pede-to-pede, mentally debating with himself. While Chromedome did want to spend some time with the newborn, he also realized that Rewind might not like the disturbance. The last time he had bothered Rewind while he was in his nest, he had nearly lost an optic.

As if sensing his presence, Rewind’s helm popped up, looking up at him without a trace of hostility. It gave Chromedome the confidence to cautiously ask, “can I hold Replay?”

Rewind tilted his helm, regarding Chromedome closely. Then he lifted the sparkling up to optic level, Replay himself grasping a tiny pillow between his servos and trying to tear it apart. “He’s all yours.”


	14. Regal and Treads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regal gives a present to Treads.

There was a loud scuffle behind the door while Regal waited for it to open. He carefully unsubspaced his present, holding it carefully between his servos. No use in damaging it now, when he was so close to giving it away.

The scuffle carried on for a bit more, in which time Regal debated on whether or not he should make sure the other was okay. A muffled, “just a minute,” abided his fears, but not by much. Finally, the door shifted open, Treads’ head poking out from the frame.

Regal cocked his head to the side. “Hi Treads, is your Sire around?” Blaster didn’t mind Regal, but Fortress Maximus always regarded Regal with an air of suspicion and slight scorn. It was downright uncomfortable. 

Treads blinked, as if noticing who was at his door for the first time. He shook his shyly, clutching the door-frame tightly. 

"Then may I come in?" ‘Always ask before assuming,’ just like Rung had taught him.

Floundering for a moment, Treads seemed to debate with himself before granting Regal access. Regal stepped in, his gift still hidden against his chest. Treads must have noticed, for he stopped Regal with a quizzical look.

"What’s that?" he asked.

Regal smiled warmly, presenting the present in all it’s glory. It wasn’t much, something simple that he had made that encompassed his affection for the other youngling. Treads tilted his head in wonderment, taking in the brightly colored material and the little heart shaped ornaments that dotted the page. 

"I made it for you," said Regal, pushing it toward Treads for emphasis. 

Taking it into his servos, Treads spent a minute analyzing it. A token of Regal’s love, no doubt. 

Treads smiled at the other. “Thank you, Regal. Would you like to watch a movie with me?”


End file.
